Changes on the way for Ukiah school district

A small group of parents came to hear Ukiah Unified School District Superintendent Deb Kuban lead off the third, district-wide parent information meeting on Wednesday morning at Yokayo School to discuss Common Core, the new set of lessons for students that is veering away from years of classroom teaching aimed at getting students to pass standard tests.

(In the evening Kubin was on her way to Napa to be on the receiving end, to be recognized and honored as Region 4 superintendent of the year by the Association of California School Administrators.)

Maria Armstrong, assistant superintendent of educational services, began the conversation with parents stating that the goal of the new Common Core curriculum is to enable students to develop higher levels of critical thinking skills utilizing more extensive and rigorous exploration. Students need to learn to explain the why, not just give the how. "Students who are used to the old standards are having to work hard to get up to par," she explains.

The new curriculum that has been adopted by 46 states throughout the nation sets new standards for learning expectations in grades K through 12 and generaly has higher goals for learning.

"The biggest shift," Armstrong says, "is taking a look at how all of us have to be a part of this including parents, community members and colleges and universities. Additionally the scaling score of the SATs has been adjusted towards more thought-based reasoning."

The focus is on both college and career oriented students to prepare them for whatever path they may choose to take in life. Key elements include building knowledge through content-rich fiction, regular practice with complex text and academic language and reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from literary and informational texts. The early grade levels will incorporate 50 percent fiction and 50 percent informational and the focus will gradually shift towards high school to 70 percent informational and 30 percent fiction.

"Parents can aid by engaging their children in reading magazines and newspapers, encouraging them to read and write and discuss what they are seeing in print, especially non fiction; to research topics of interest; and to follow step by step instructions in order to accomplish a goal," Armstrong adds.

A shift in classroom learning will include linking major topics aross grades and stressing the understanding of concepts as well as learning facts. In math, students will be taught how to embrace the bigger picture, learning how to apply the math they learned in multiple ways.

In addition to the discussion of Common Core, Kuban introduced a multi-page handout encouraging parents and community members to become involved in the new Local Control Accountability Plan. The district is working on drafts and is seeking public input. At present they have 60 members on the task force to determine where the school district wants to head in the next three to five years.

"We want to create schools our community wants to have and continue with what we are doing well," Kuban adds.

With Common Core comes a greater emphasis on teaching students skills they can use when they enter the workforce. Every third grader in the district now has a Chromebook laptop; 10th and 11th graders are using them in their English and social studies classes. The goal is for every student in every grade to be able to check them out like a book.

This year's standardized test on computers are considered field tests; there will be no measured results; California received a waiver from the federal government to skip the STAR tests this year since the teaching standards now being used are no longer aligned with those tests. There will be no API scores until 2016 giving the district time to get in line with the required testing for Common Core.

"Literacy standards are now the responsibility across the curriculum; students are doing a great deal more close reading with texts in all subject matter," Kuban explained. "We are giving our teachers the time to dig deep into their curriculums; more cross- curricular planning is being set up for the future. Last year was our awareness year providing an opportunity for schools to pilot the new assessments. We have a three-pronged approach in training our teachers."

A leadership network of 65 teachers worked with Doug Fisher at the Sonoma County Office of Education, training in close reads; a cadre of teachers, about 150, across the grade levels in history, math, English, social studies and math worked together to coordinate instruction, helping to get the students talking more about content; and a third group of 17 teachers took part in professional development in technology. Training has been ongoing this year.

Positive changes are in the air for the future. Three new music teachers are being hired, one for each middle school and one at the high school. Music programs will begin in the 5th grade. There has been additional funding for art in the elementary schools. Positive behavior is being reinforced district wide with restorative justice programs at the upper levels and positive behavior intervention at the elementary schools. Teams of teachers are being trained to implement alternative programs to help those who have difficulty with behavior. An additional counselor will be hired at the high school and work is being done to implement a peer counseling program there. There is increased funding for mental health counseling pulling from outside agencies. There is consideration being given to reopening the Redwood Valley campus as a 3rd to 5th grade campus or a STEM (science, math, English and technology) school. Jim Stuart, former chef and operations manager at Ukiah Valley Medical Center, has been hired as the new food services director and Gina Danner, former school psychologist at the Mendocino County Office of Education and former special education director in Willits, is the new director of special education.

"We have lots of irons in the fire right now; this is an exciting time when funding is being restored to the schools. We cannot, however, do this without the help of the parents; we are here to support them, to partner with them, to create the community we all want to see," says Kuban.

There is a dedicated email address for input on the UUSD website for comments on the LCAP. Maria Armstrong can be reached at 472-5053 and Debbie Ornelas, executive assistant to Deb Kuban, can be reached at 472-5002. People are encouraged to attend board meetings. The final parent information meeting will take place at the new district office on May 8 at 6 p.m.